


Summer's Folly

by GreyishBlue



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, First Meetings, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-03-06 00:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18839695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyishBlue/pseuds/GreyishBlue
Summary: Bucky Barnes is commited to his recovery, but he intends to bitch about it every step of the way. His running mouth gets him in a bit of a bind.(Bucky Barnes Bingo Square B4: AU - Urban Fantasy)(Winterhawk Bingo Square: First Date)





	1. Chapter 1

Bucky groans, loudly and dramatically, from his spot plastered across the living room floor. His eyes are closed against the bits of sun managing their way through shut curtains, and his long unruly hair is stuck unflatteringly across his neck and forehead.

"C'mon Buck, you gotta get up." Steve nudges a toe into Bucky's unprotected side and receives only an irritated grunt in response. Steve sighs, all world weary and entirely put-upon, before reaching down to grab one of Bucky's hands and pulling the other man up.

"You know they called me Winter Soldier, not Summer Soldier, right?" Bucky grumps at Steve as he begrudgingly gets to his feet. He tugs a bit listlessly at the thin tank top clinging to his torso before trying to wrangle his hair back into a messy bun. 

"Yeah, yeah. Go for your walk, get your goal done, and you can come back to the shady patch on the floor." The stern look that Steve has set his face into brokers no argument. 

Bucky only mumbles a bit more as he works his way over to the back door and into his well used sneakers. As much as he loathes the sweltering weather outside, he knows that keeping up with an exercise regimen is good for his recovery. He takes a few deep breaths to steel himself for the out-of-doors, and heads out into the backyard. 

The day is just as miserable as he predicted, so Bucky immediately slips into the shaded forest path that winds near his home. He usually enjoys walking or jogging through the forest, with it's odd branching paths that seem to lead different places each day. With the sun beating down above him, he's just quietly muttering curses and trying to keep himself shaded by the myriad of trees above him. 

"Ugh. My kingdom for some better weather." Bucky grumbles, and tries vaguely successfully to wrangle the locks of hair falling back across his face. He jumps at least a foot in the air as a sharp boom of thunder echoes across the forest.

"As you wish!" A clear melodious voice filters through the surrounding trees, followed closely by the soft patter of rain on leaves. 

"What. The. Hell?" Bucky turns on the spot, searching for the source of the voice, skin pricking in goosebumps at the soft cool breeze that's begun.

"Better weather. Your kingdom. As you wish." The voice coalesces into a man, all bright smile and twinkling blue eyes. A messy shock of blonde hair wreathed in a garland of purple hued flowers. A very sheer robe draped across a distractingly muscled body.

Bucky would normally have managed some kind of defense, but he stands still and utterly shocked, staring openly at the stranger. Some part of his mind is vaguely proud not to have lashed out with his metal arm as he had many times before when surprised. The rest of him is more focused on trying to make sense of the last few moments of his usually peaceful stroll.

"I don't have a kingdom!" Bucky says, the only sensical thing he can force his voice into. He shudders lightly as the gently falling rain seems to caress across his shoulders.

"Mm. 'Course you do. Your hand will suffice," the stranger grins and steps forward, holding out his palm, seeming to beckon. 

Bucky recoils from the offered hand with a gasp, nearly slips on the now slick ground as he tries to hide the prosthetic behind himself somehow. 

Confusion, concern, and finally amusement flicker across the other man's features.  
"My apologies, phrasing isn't really my uh.. forte?" Those blue eyes twinkle again before the man flicks his wrist. He upturns his palm again, and this time a pair of fragile looking silver bands rest there. 

Bucky's slate grey eyes widen in realization, and the shiver across his skin this time is not caused by the weather. His eyes stutter across the scene before him, and the longer he looks at the beautiful stranger before him, the less he wants to run back along the path home. He takes a glance back and sees no well worn trail behind him. Bucky breathes deeply to steel himself and reaches a hand out to the other man.

"I'm Bucky.. I figure if I've managed to bitch my way into this, I'd at least like to know your name," he tries to force a smile toward the other man, and finds it to be easier than he had thought. The laughter that rings through the forest is rich and deep, and Bucky feels another bit of his heart gentle at the sound.

"You may call me Clint," the grin he gives as he says it feels like sunshine, and Bucky finds he doesn't mind the warmth of it at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky follows Clint into the forest. Things go just fine!

Clint gives the dark haired man in front of him the most charming smile he can muster and gently takes the hand he’s been offered. He finds himself truly nervous for the first time in his considerable years as he runs fingertips along Bucky’s lightly tanned skin. He had hoped, upon making his offer, for this outcome. The reality of the silver rings in his palm and the warm hand in his finally sinks in and he nearly drops them both. With a deep breath to settle the slight shaking that’s begun in him, he slips the first of the bands onto Bucky’s finger. It settles there, twinkling in the bits of sunlight that manage to press through the leaves above them. 

When Bucky grins up, (and it is up, a bit, the body he’s manifested is taller than the human), Clint finds himself breathless again. He couldn’t have predicted the easy way Bucky would take the other band from him, the gentle caress as he mirrored Clint’s own actions of a moment before. He certainly wasn’t ready for the warmth cascading through him when it finally sat upon his finger. Clint had been watching this beautiful, seemingly broken man for the last few months, walking through his forest. He had made plan after plan on how to approach him. He had worried himself over the various rules of his world and the world he was intruding on by hoping to reach out to a human. He hadn’t expected it to be so… easy. 

Gathering his not inconsiderable courage around himself, he tore his eyes from where their hands were joined. 

“Would you join me for a celebratory feast, Bucky?” Clint managed, fighting the blush attempting to color his cheeks. He wasn’t used to the odd habits of the form he had taken. 

“You askin’ me on a date, doll?” the response seemed to roll easy off of Bucky’s tongue, and Clint was a little floored again at the ease with which the man was taking control of the situation.

“I.. uh.. Yes, I suppose I am.” He punctuated his statement with a soft tilt of his head. “How about it?”

“Feels a bit backwards, but I think we can manage it anyhow.” Bucky smiled and wiggled his newly adorned hand back into Clint’s view. 

Clint nods, tries not to grin too obviously like a dope, and gestures grandly at the path that begins to unfurl behind them both. The forest leans back, vines and roots seeming to crawl away from well tracked dirt until the way is clear. The falling rain continues it’s soft patter against the trees, but avoids the new path as if to keep it pristine for them.

Both men (one a bit more accurately deserving the description) step onto the path and begin their walk together. Clint catches Bucky looking awestruck at the flowers dripping from the trees, the birds too brightly colored to be quite from the world he knows. When Bucky’s eyes meet his, the look of wonder doesn’t leave them. And when Bucky’s eyes slip down his form and back, assessing, darkening a bit, Clint is immensely glad of the form he chose. 

The walk to the small clearing passes in what seems like an eternity and no time at all, and Clint finds himself watching a tad nervously as Bucky stares enraptured at the scene before them.  
Lush grass freckled with small flowers shifts in the breeze, surrounding a large table seemingly growing from the middle of the glade. Upon it rests a collection of fragile looking plates, each with a different delicacy. Clint rests his fingertips gently on the small of Bucky’s back to encourage him closer. Even that small touch feels a bit electric, and Clint wonders again what he’s gotten himself into.

Bucky allows himself to be led, and settles onto one of the stumps of trees that surround the table. As he reaches toward a pastry that looks more flaky than any he’s seen in his life, he stutters to a stop.

“Wait. If I eat any of this..” the words trail off when his eyes flick up to see Clint’s lips wrapped around some kind of berry. Bucky’s eyes track the drip of juice making its way down his chin, and what he had meant to ask is gone from his mind.

Clint, however, understands the question and shakes his flower-crowned head. 

“You’re my guest here.” He says surely, before hedging a little. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to the kingdom I gained!” The grin accompanying his bravado is infectious, and Bucky returns it easily. 

The noise Bucky makes when he finally takes his first bite of the faerie feast in front of him is indecent at best. For all his hesitance of the moments before, he seems to have taken Clint at his word now. He grabs various items from the plates before him, sampling them with wonder written plainly across his features. Clint does his best not to stare. Clint fails.

They both make their way through the delicacies, happily offering one another things they find particularly intriguing. Conversation begins to flow easily between them. They trade jibes and teases interspersed with Bucky’s fervent compliments of the food, which make Clint blush with each declaration. Clint suspects Bucky has noticed and is doing it entirely on purpose. 

When the sky begins to darken, the glade slowly fills with twinkling lights that hover gently in the air around them. Bucky squints carefully at one and is only a little surprised to find something entirely different from the firefly he had expected. Once he manages to shake off the wonder of seeing a tiny glowing creature grinning at him, he looks worriedly to the dusky sky above them.

“I.. I have to go home. I can’t leave Steve wondering where I’ve gone.” he said, shoulders tightening with a bit of concern. 

Clint nodded easily, standing and offering to help him up with an outstretched hand. Bucky took it and felt his heart lighten a little when Clint didn’t flinch away from the slightly cold touch of his prosthetic. Another fanciful gesture from Clint uncovered a new pathway from the glade, this one dotted with more twinkling lights. This time they made the journey with their hands clasped, as if neither had thought to let go.

The forest around them shifted into shapes and sounds that were more familiar to Bucky as they went, until he saw the amber light that spilled across his own backyard. Clint stopped hesitantly before they could make it into the halo of that light, and Bucky stopped with him, slight concern across his features. 

Clint reached up and nervously ran a hand through his own hair, dislodging the flowers that had so stubbornly crowned him. As the petals drifted down he took a deep steadying breath and asked all in a rush, eyes downcast, “May I kiss you?”

Bucky found himself not quite able to get a word out, but instead moved into the other man’s space. Clint gasped softly at the feel of chapped lips against his own. The kiss lasted only a moment, but Clint was sure he would feel the ghost of it for a long time yet. He smiled and gave Bucky a slight bow as he moved back into the trees.

“Goodnight, Bucky.” He murmured.

“Goodnight, Clint.” Bucky said, before turning back toward the house. He slid the glass door aside and let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding as he made it across the threshold. He glanced down to his hand, to the plain but beautiful band still around his finger. A feeling of peace and contentment swirled through him at the sight. He wasn’t sure how he would explain it to Steve, but he figured he could worry about that in the morning.


End file.
